© Reuters. Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy speaks during a joint news conference with Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala (not seen), as Russia’s attack on Ukraine continues, in Kyiv, Ukraine October 31, 2022. REUTERS/Viacheslav Ratynskyi
(Reuters) – The presidents of the United States and France said they would hold Russia to account for its actions in Ukraine and the European Union reached tentative agreement on an oil price cap to squeeze Moscow’s export earnings.
FIGHTING
* Ukraine’s armed forces have lost somewhere between 10,000 and 13,000 soldiers so far in the war against Russia, presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak told a Ukrainian television network.* Russia’s Defence Ministry and the head of Ukraine’s presidential administration said the two countries had swapped 50 service personnel in the latest prisoner exchange between the two sides.* Russian rockets pounded neighbourhoods in Kherson knocking out power in the city where electricity had only begun to be restored nearly three weeks after Russian troops left.
* Ukraine’s armed forces reported heavy shelling of a number of eastern frontline villages near the city of Bakhmut.
* Ukraine’s military said it had found fragments of Russian-fired nuclear-capable missiles with dud warheads in western Ukraine, and that their apparent purpose was to distract air defences.
* Kyiv Mayor Vitaliy Klitschko told residents to stock up on water, food and warm clothes in the event of a total blackout caused by Russian strikes.
DIPLOMACY, FOREIGN RESPONSE* Joe Biden used the first state visit of his presidency to demonstrate unity with France’s Emmanuel Macron on Ukraine, show willingness to speak to Russia’s Vladimir Putin and assuage European anger over U.S. subsidies.
* The Group of Seven nations are “very, very close” to agreement on a $60 a barrel price cap on Russian seaborne oil with an adjustment mechanism to keep the cap at 5% below the market price, a senior G7 coalition official said Thursday.* Russian attacks on Ukrainian civilian infrastructure have increased the cost to keep Ukraine’s economy going next year, adding up to $1 billion a month to previous estimates of $3-$4 billion, the head of the International Monetary Fund told the Reuters NEXT conference.
NUCLEAR
* The International Atomic Energy Agency hopes to reach an agreement with Russia and Ukraine to create a protection zone at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant by the end of the year, the head of the U.N. atomic watchdog was quoted as saying.
